Victims' organisations are having to fill the hole left by government failures

People do not generally expect to be affected by road traffic crashes—they are a horror that affects others. But that is not what the statistics say. For lifetime exposure, the average person in a developed country has a 1% risk of death and a 30% risk of injury.1

About 50% deaths occur at the site of the crash or during transport, and the rest of deaths occur in hospital.1 Many developed countries provide fast emergency help, which can be on the spot in five minutes in urban areas and in 20 minutes in rural areas. …